


Gratified Affair

by madesimplefic



Category: Drake & Josh
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:50:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3713863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madesimplefic/pseuds/madesimplefic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

After her breakup with Josh, it had taken only two boys before Mindy found unusual comfort with Drake.

Her first date had been with Craig Ramirez, and really it was only because he asked her so sweet and shyly one day after their difficult AP Chemistry class. He stuttered over his words and fumbled his books nervously and before Mindy could help herself, the word yes had tumbled out of her mouth and he looked just as surprised as she felt. Sure, she and Josh had only been broken up for a couple weeks; it hurt inside when he bragged in class one day about all the phone numbers he’d been getting (she wasn’t positive, but she had an icky feeling that Drake and betting were involved somehow). Maybe it was finally time for her to start moving on with her life, seeing other people, and getting over him. That’s why they’d broken up in the first place, right?

However, Craig and Mindy’s date certainly hadn’t gone over as well as she would’ve liked. As much as Mindy liked Craig, there certainly wasn’t that…spark between them. There was the awkward ride in his mom’s minivan to the restaurant and when they finally arrived, Craig couldn’t stop babbling about the Science Fair and what his entry would be for next year and how he and Eric were definitely going to win something above third place. She nodded and smiled politely while she chewed her lasagna as Craig launched into a story about Niagara Falls in between bites of his spaghetti. He nearly knocked over a glass with his wild gesturing and Mindy thought to herself, this is what I wanted? This is what I waited for? 

The evening finally came to a grinding halt in front of Mindy’s front door where Craig tried to kiss her and ended up breaking it off awkwardly. His cheeks were flushed bright pink and he mumbled something about Eric and a few other things she couldn’t understand. It didn’t matter anyway because Mrs. Ramirez was honking the car horn and Craig ran off without so much as a goodbye.

A few weeks later Danny Fox, a guy from her history class, caught up with her after a Science Club meeting was over. She accepted partly because Josh was watching (not that it meant anything…they were just friends now, honestly), but mostly because Danny was pretty cute and she’d never really seen him outside of school. Their date had gone reasonably better than her experience with Craig, until she had to knee him in the groin. As it turned out, Danny wanted to exchange sex for her class notes and he didn’t seem to understand that with Mindy, no meant absolutely not, get your hands off you creep.

That’s when she let her knee do the talking.

After him, Mindy thought it would be best to take a break from boys. She felt she rushed into her “date” with Craig and Danny was a mistake that she could’ve said no to. So over the next month, Mindy got to spend quality time with herself for the first time since she was single. She threw herself into her homework, hanging out with her friends, and trying to patch up some kind of friendship with Josh. Hanging out with him wasn’t as awkward as it used to be, but she used the time to take each day as it came.

There was no amount of time Mindy spent for herself that could’ve been prepared for the curveball life was going to throw at her.


	2. Chapter 1 - Syrup & Speed Racer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their dislike for each other runs deep, but Mindy and Drake find the only way to get what they want is if they work together.

Walking out of theater #8, Mindy and her best friend Cathy walked into The Premiere’s lobby, which was bustling with people on this particular Friday night. Groups of people chattered noisily as they strolled by the two girls. All of them were geared up to see whatever movie of the week was playing and a pleasant buzz was created in the atmosphere.

“Okay Mindy, I gotta head over to the Smiths’ to baby-sit,” Cathy said, pulling her jacket on. “Are you sure you don’t need a ride home?”

“No, you’re going to cut it close as it is,” Mindy pointed out, looking at her watch. “I’ll just give my parents a call or something. They don’t have to leave for my dad’s work party for another hour.”

“Okay. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

“Bye Cathy, have fun!” Mindy waved as Cathy walked toward the exit. Turning on her heel, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began punching in the numbers to reach her dad. In doing so, she walked over to hang out at the candy counter where she saw Josh. He smiled at her and mouthed “hi”; she gave him a little wave back as her dad’s voicemail droned on in her ear. Mindy tried her mom’s cell phone and got the same response. As often as they seemed to check up on her, she thought it was pretty ironic that they never seemed to answer _their_ phones.

Mindy let out an irritated sigh as she snapped her phone shut and she crossed her slender arms in front of her chest. Josh, who was wiping soda stains off the candy counter, gave her a questioning look.

“Cathy left after the movie because she had to get to her babysitting job and I thought I could get a ride from my parents, but both of them are ignoring their cell phones,” Mindy explained, slipping the tiny phone into her jeans pocket. “And you’re here working, which rules out asking you for a ride home. So basically, I’m stuck here until one of my parents figures out how to check their voice mail.” She paused, letting that thought sink in. “This could take awhile.”

“Well I’m here until ten and it’s…”Josh said, checking his watch. “Seven now. Why don’t you hang out and go see another movie?” As he made the suggestion, he spotted a familiar face coming toward the counter. “Or better yet, Drake could take you home!”

“What? No, Drake _definitely_ doesn’t want to do that.”

“I don’t want to do what?” Drake asked, arriving at the counter with a pretty blonde girl who was gleefully eating some interesting looking popcorn. It appeared to be sticking to her hand and if Mindy wasn’t mistaken, she smelled butter and...maple syrup?

“Drake can you do me a favor and take Mindy home? She doesn’t have a ride and I don’t get off work for another three hours,” Josh explained, throwing the rag underneath the counter. “I’d appreciate it.”

“Well you’re right, I _definitely_ don’t want to do that,” Drake replied, his eyes looking back and forth between his step-brother and the Creature. Turning to his date, whose fingers were all sticky with popcorn and syrup, he smiled and faced her. “Collette, why don’t you go get our seats? I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

“Sure! I’ll make sure to save some syrup just for you,” Collette replied happily as she flounced off toward the theater. Drake checked her out as she walked away, sighed, and then turned to face Josh.

“Dude, I’m on a _date_ ,” Drake said pointedly. “I can’t just leave right in the middle of it.”

“I’m sure Sticky Fingers won’t notice,” Josh said sarcastically. “C’mon, Mindy only lives a couple of blocks away.”

“Excuse me, do _I_ get a say in this?” Mindy interjected, watching the two brothers argue.

“Mindy, you do _not_ want to wait three hours for me to get off work. You’ll be bored out of your mind.”

“Three hours hanging out here sounds like a better alternative than being in a car with Speed Racer,” she pointed out.

“Oh yeah, that’s real rich coming from someone who doesn’t even _have_ their license. What’s the matter, no driving academy at the loony bin?” Drake shot back as he stuck his hand in his frayed jeans pocket.

“Says the guy who took his driving test instructor to the Inside Out Burger _drive thru_!”

“ _Enough_!” Josh exclaimed and the two of them turned to look at him. “Mindy, didn’t you mention earlier at school that you wanted to work on the science project Mr. Hall gave you? The one that’s worth like half your grade?”

“Well yeah, but –“

“And Drake, you owe me. C’mon, it’ll take you more time arguing about this then it will to _actually_ do it.”

“I owe you? What for?” Drake asked, flipping his hair so his bangs weren’t hanging in his eyes.

“How quickly you forget that I covered for you a couple days ago when Mrs. Hafer gave you _detention_ and Dad wanted you to pick up Megan from oboe practice but he couldn’t find you,” Josh replied triumphantly. Drake, knowing that he was caught, let out an irritated sigh and narrowed his eyes at Josh.

“C’mon Mindy. If we hurry, I can make it back before _Bacon & Legs_ starts,” Drake said and Mindy sighed too, knowing that Josh did have a point.

“Yeah, okay,” Mindy said dejectedly, following him toward the exit. She turned and gave a small wave to Josh. “See you later Josh.”

“Byeeeee!” Josh called out after them with a goofy grin on his face. He began to deal with the customers wanting popcorn for their movie as Mindy continued to follow Drake out the door.

The cool night air felt good as it swooped upon her face and there was an uncomfortable silence between them as they strolled through the parking lot. They reached the bright yellow Volkswagen and Mindy smiled as she slid in the passenger side, remembering when Josh told her how it was Megan who unfortunately got to pick out their car. Drake put the key in the ignition and she gripped the door handle tightly as he zoomed out of the parking lot. Loud rock music pumped out of the speakers and he adjusted the volume to something above a dull roar.

“Thanks for driving me home,” Mindy told him, her eyes darting nervously between him, the ever rising speedometer, and the street that appeared to be flying by.

“What?”

“Thanks for driving me home,” she repeated, loud enough for him to hear. “I know Josh kind of made you…but thanks.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” he replied, keeping his eyes concentrated on the road. Mindy, nauseated at the speed he insisted on keeping, drew her attention away from the window and watched him instead.

She knew the Volkswagen wasn’t even close to his first choice of a car (or Josh’s either, for that matter), but still, Drake looked completely natural and at ease behind the wheel. His left hand was draped easily over the wheel while his right hand couldn’t decide between fiddling with the radio or tapping out the song’s beat with his thumb against his leg. She would occasionally hear him sing a lyric or two under his breath before he flipped the song again and her breath hitched in her throat as he took a curve a little too quickly for her liking. He heard her and shot a quick wicked grin her direction.

“A little nervous there, Crenshaw?”

There was something about his tone that made her feel uneasy, like he enjoyed watching her appear rattled. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he unnerved her, so she ignored his question and his smile and instead looked at the radio. “What’s this song playing? It’s pretty good.”

“No Matter What by Zero Gravity, possibly the best band _ever_ ,” Drake replied enthusiastically, as he usually got when talking about music.

“Really? I’ve never heard of them.”

“What?! You’ve _never_ heard of Zero Gravity?” Drake asked as his eyes widened. “I’ll tell Josh to burn a CD for you or something; their stuff is amazing.”

“Okay, sure.”

They slipped into a somewhat easier silence this time, while the music washed over them. With the sun sliding over the horizon, Mindy snuck another glance at Drake. If she really thought about it with the way that the last vestiges of the sun made his hair glow even more red than usual and the fact that he looked so relaxed just driving along and singing with his radio…he looked _almost_ attractive to her. She let the thought mull over in her head for a moment as Drake pulled into her driveway.

“All right Creature, out of my car. You’re probably getting all your cooties and germs all over the upholstery,” Drake told her with a slight wrinkle of his nose at the thought. Mindy narrowed her eyes as any thought of his attractiveness escaped her. Just when she thought he could be somewhat of a nice guy, he had to go do something stupid like open his mouth.

“Cooties? Really? And here I was, so proud of you for knowing and using the word upholstery _correctly_ ,” Mindy tossed back as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She exited the car and slammed the door shut before he could reply and she stormed up to her front porch in a huff. She was glad when she heard of the squeal of his tires speed down the street.

\--

It was almost ten by the time Drake sauntered back into The Premiere to pick up Josh. He had just dropped Collette off at her house and she was pretty unhappy with him for ditching her before the movie. He tried to explain it as best as he could, but she pouted throughout the movie anyway. Maybe it was for the best; Drake had planned on breaking up with her at the end of the week anyway and it looked like Josh had innocently given him a way out.

Making his way to the candy counter, Drake saw an extremely attractive girl chatting it up with a very pleased looking Josh. It still threw him sometimes that with his brother’s newly found breakup, he could score dates with the kind of girls that he did. Not that Josh was anywhere near a seasoned pro like Drake was…but it still surprised him, nonetheless. He reached the counter and caught the tail-end of their conversation as the girl was writing something down on a piece of paper.

“Maybe we can do something this weekend, after I get out of work,” Josh was saying as the mystery girl slid the piece of paper to him.

“Yeah, that’d be a lot of fun,” she agreed, smiling warmly at him. She glanced up at the overhead clock with her pretty blue eyes as she tucked a piece of her shiny brown hair behind her ear and frowned. “Oh, I gotta go; Gavin’s probably waiting for me. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah, okay,” Josh replied, waving as she left. “See ya later.”  
The two boys stared as she walked out the door; Drake with a look of admiration and Josh with a look of giddy joy. Drake turned to face Josh as he gave him a slight hit on his shoulder.

“Dude! Nice job,” he said appreciatively. “Who _is_ that girl?”

“That,” Josh said, sticking the phone number in his pants pocket. “Is Gavin’s sister, Lisa.”

“Wait, Gavin has a sister? And she looks like _that_?”

“I know man; I was just as surprised as you are.”

“But she’s so _hot_ and Gavin’s…not,” Drake said bluntly as Josh did a final rubdown with the rag over the counter.

“Still surprised!” Josh agreed. “I was helping out at the ticket counter when she came in and she got to saying how she didn’t normally pay because Gavin let her in for free. So I did the same when Helen wasn’t looking and after the movie, she came over and we talked for a little bit and that’s when you showed up.”

“ _And_...”

“ _And_ after I call her tomorrow, it sounds like we’re gonna go out,” Josh told him, somewhat shyly spelling out the details. After checking over the counter to make sure everything was in its rightful place, he grabbed his coat off the tiny hook and put his palm out to Drake. “Can I have the keys? I wanna drive.”

Drake tossed them over and they made their out of the theater and straight to the car. The late night air had more of a chill to it than earlier and he wished that he’d remembered his jacket. Sliding into the passenger, he watched as Josh started up the car and they quickly took off.

“So how was your date with….,” Josh began to ask, but he had trouble with the girl’s name. “Uh…Sticky Fingers? Don’t look at me like that; I can’t keep track of every girl that you date.”

“Eh, I don’t want to talk about it,” Drake replied, sinking further down into his seat as he gazed out the window.

“Okay. How was driving Mindy home? Obviously you made it back in one piece.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Drake said, and he smacked Josh on the shoulder enough to sting him.

“ _Ow_! What was that for?”

“Mindy’s _not_ your girlfriend anymore,” Drake pointed out, emphasizing each word. “Therefore, _I_ shouldn’t have to do favors for her. She gave up that right when you guys broke up. End of story.”

“Was it really _that_ bad?” Josh asked irritably as he pulled up to a stop light. “I mean, I didn’t get any phone call from Mindy with her yelling at me about you like I did when we were dating.”

“Well…no,” Drake admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. “We talked about Zero Gravity and she thanked me for driving her home.”

“Wow, you two _actually_ had a civil conversation together. I’m impressed. And Zero Gravity? You love them!”

“That’s not the point Josh.”

The light turned green and Josh stepped on the gas as silence filled the tiny car for a few moments. “Yeah, I know. But look, Mindy is my friend now whether you like it or not. I was just trying to do her a favor. If the situation had been reversed, I would’ve asked her to do the same for you.”

Drake let that thought settle in his head as Josh continued driving down the road, getting closer and closer to their house. He was probably making a big deal about nothing, but he didn’t really care. He and Mindy had never gotten along on good terms ever since she framed him for putting Mrs. Hafer’s car in the classroom back in sophomore year. It just got to him that Josh knew this and he still tried to get the two of them to be friends, despite their constant bickering.

Tonight was weird though, driving Mindy home. For once they had a semi-decent conversation of few words and there was no verbal bloodshed. And okay, he’ll admit only to himself that he provoked her when they reached her house only because it felt weird to him to act… _normal_ with her. Drake had gotten comfortable driving her home as she watched him behind the wheel and they had easily slipped into talking about one of his favorite conversation topics. _Something_ had to be said, right?

“Hey Drake? We’re home.”


End file.
